Reconfigurable inner support structure

ABSTRACT

A reconfigurable inner support structure for holding and displaying an article. The inner support structure includes at least two parts having positions or angles changeable relative to each other. Reconfiguration of the inner support structure refers to a transformation between a manufacturing configuration and a use configuration, and is formed by a change in the relative position or angle between the at least two parts of the inner support structure. In the manufacturing configuration, the inner support structure is free of an undercut structure. In the use configuration, the inner support structure includes an undercut structure for securing an article and preventing the article from being removed from the inner support structure.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of packaging of articles for shipping and display, and more particularly to an inner support structure for holding and displaying an article, and capable of producing an undercut structure by means of reconfiguration of the inner support structure.

BACKGROUND

A pulp molded inner support for accommodating an article is well known in the art. Generally, the inner support structure has a cavity for receiving an article. The article may include any consumer product such as a portable product, an item of daily use, etc. In order to cause a product to remain in position during transportation, appropriate frictional resistance between the product and an inner support is usually provided by selecting appropriate surface roughness in combination with size control so as to secure the product. However, the product is usually not secured in a vertical axis direction of a tray, and may move freely in a vertical direction of the tray in the presence of vibration and be therefore removed from the tray, resulting in movement in other directions. This may damage the packaged product. Some compensation methods, such as using a tray cover or a cable tie or adding a material or an additional part in an opposite direction of an inner liner, are used to secure the packaged product so as to prevent the same from moving. However, this may result in an increase in the number of packaging materials for manufacturing packaging and therefore increase costs.

CN utility model publication No. CN 208278654 U discloses a paper-plastic inner liner structure, and this structure is designed to serve as a bumper against mechanical shock. In order to avoid wear or damage to a product due to vibration or shaking occurring during transportation, protrusions are provided around an accommodation cavity of this structure to locate and hold a packaged article. However, since this structure holds the packaged article merely by means of friction between the protruding portions and the packaged article, when impact force on packaging is greater than friction force between the protruding portions and the held article of manufacture, this structure cannot prevent the packaged article from moving so as to protect the packaged article from being damaged.

A method for solving this problem is to add an undercut structure to the inner liner structure so as to hold the product and prevent product movement by means of a “fastener.” However, although an undercut is useful in securing an article in an inner liner, manufacturing the undercut is a relatively difficult process, especially for inelastic materials such as a paper-plastic product. This results in that a more expensive mold having a slider structure needs to be used, and results in an increase in manufacturing costs. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a packaging structure capable of being demolded easily, adapted to an existing paper-plastic mold machining and production process without adding additional packaging components, and capable of securely holding a product in an inner support of packaging.

SUMMARY

The present invention relates to a reconfigurable inner support structure for holding an article and capable of displaying the article, wherein the inner support structure comprises at least two parts having positions or angles changeable relative to each other, wherein a reconfiguration of the inner support structure is being formed by a change in the relative position or angle between the parts of the inner support structure, and the reconfiguration being a transformation between a manufacturing configuration and a use configuration, wherein the manufacturing configuration of the inner support structure is free of an undercut structure, wherein the use configuration of the inner support structure comprises an undercut structure for securing an article and preventing the article from being removed from the inner support structure.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an undercut structure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an inner support structure in a manufacturing configuration according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an inner support structure in a use configuration according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an inner support structure in a manufacturing configuration according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an inner support structure in a use configuration according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an inner support structure in a use configuration, having an article according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an inner support structure in a manufacturing configuration comprising two or more parts according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the inner support structure of FIG. 7 in a use configuration including parts having an unchanged relative position/angle according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the inner support structure of FIG. 7 in a use configuration including an article according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is an exploded assembly view of a product package according to the present invention, having an inner support structure in a use configuration and containing an article; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an assembled product package of FIG. 10 , having the inner support structure nested with a outer packaging.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Undercuts have been used in product packaging, mainly for forming a lock and a latch so as to secure an article in product packaging. One of the challenges of having an undercut structure to the molded inner support packaging is that a positive draft angle is absent in a production process. The positive draft angle refers to the value of a forward slope of an article of manufacture in a mold releasing direction. A region on the article of manufacture without a positive draft angle interferes with a mold during a mold releasing process, and therefore it is difficult to smoothly remove the article from the mold.

For an inner support structure made of a material having certain elasticity, it is possible to introduce a certain undercut thereto. However, generally, a protruding portion of the undercut (generating a negative draft angle) has a very limited and generally small height so as to use elastic deformation during a process in which the inner support is removed from the mold to avoid damage caused thereto by interference with the mold. However, for an inner support made of an inelastic material, it is basically not feasible to introduce an undercut structure without a positive draft angle to the inner support structure. After molding, the mold opens and moves away from parts, and at this time the mold forming the undercut structure (interfering with the article of manufacture) damages a molded undercut portion. In order to manufacture a structure having a negative draft angle and including an undercut structure, the mold may need to be divided into two or more portions that can move relative to each other, so that when the article of manufacture is separated from the mold, a portion preventing the undercut structure from being released from the mold is removed so as to allow the article of manufacture to be demolded smoothly. This necessarily increases the number of mold parts required, and therefore increases manufacturing costs.

The present invention provides an inner support structure capable of producing an undercut structure merely by means of simple reconfiguration so as to support and secure an article in an outer packaging, thereby protecting the article against damage caused by movement or collision. The reconfigurable packaging structure according to the present invention is applicable to existing manufacturing processes including but not limited to a die pressing process and a molding process, and an undercut structure can be introduced without increasing the complexity of a mold for manufacturing an article of manufacture.

Suitable materials include, but are not limited to, a paper material, a pulp mold material, a fiber mold material, and a plastic resin mold material.

The inner support structure includes two or more parts having positions or angles changeable relative to each other. Transformation between a manufacturing configuration and a use configuration of the inner support structure is formed by transformation of the relative position or angle between the parts. When the inner support structure is in the manufacturing configuration during manufacturing, the inner support structure includes only a positive draft angle in a product removing direction and does not include an undercut structure, and therefore demolding can be performed smoothly. By means of reconstruction performed by changing the relative position or angle between the parts, the inner support structure is transformed from the manufacturing configuration during manufacturing to the use configuration during use. In this case, because the relative position or angle between the parts is changed, the inner support structure forms a negative draft angle in the product removing direction, and therefore a portion including the negative draft angle forms an undercut structure for securing the product and preventing the product from being removed freely from the inner support structure.

Before the present invention is described in detail, the following terms are defined for clarity. Undefined terms should have conventional meanings thereof as understood by those skilled in the art.

As used herein, the term “inner support structure” refers to an inner structure in outer packaging and configured to receive an article or hold an article in position. If the article is a consumer product, then the inner support structure can form a portion of product packaging for displaying the consumer product, and can be placed in a box or a container as a portion of final product packaging of the product packaging. If it is expected to remove the box from the product packaging, then this inner support structure can also be designed to serve as product packaging alone.

As used herein, the term “undercut structure” refers to a transverse protrusion (y) of a mold or an article in a direction in which the mold or the article is removed from other parts (see FIG. 1 ). The undercut structure can be configured and arranged so as to be used in the inner support structure to securely hold the article in the entire packaging structure and prevent the article from being released freely in an article removing direction (Y). A technique for forming the undercut structure is a conventional technique used by those skilled in the art, and therefore does not need to be described.

As used herein, the term “manufacturing configuration” refers to a shape of the inner support structure when the inner support structure is being manufactured (see FIG. 2 ).

As used herein, the term “use configuration” refers to a form of the inner support structure when the inner support structure is used as a functional part (see FIG. 3 ).

As used herein, the term “negative/positive draft angle” refers to an included angle between a direction in which the mold leaves the article of manufacture and a surface of the article of manufacture during separation of the mold from the article of manufacture after a product is shaped by means of mold-assisted forming. When the mold can leave the article of manufacture from a position above the surface of the article of manufacture, the draft angle is positive in this case. When the mold fits to the surface of the article of manufacture and transversely leaves the article of manufacture, the draft angle is zero in this case. When the mold needs to leave the article of manufacture across the surface of the article of manufacture, the draft angle is negative in this case.

The present invention relates to an inner support structure, and the inner support structure is free of an undercut structure in a manufacturing configuration of a manufacturing process thereof, thereby facilitating lossless separation of the inner support structure from a mold.

In a use scenario, transformation into a use configuration is performed by means of reconfiguration. In this configuration, the inner support structure produces, in an article removing direction, an undercut structure having a negative draft angle and for securing an article. A technical effect is that the article can be secured in the inner support structure by means of the undercut, and in addition, the number of additional materials (such as a cable tie for securing the product and an air cushion/bag inserted to fill a space in a box so as to prevent the product from moving vertically during shipment) is minimized. Since it is not necessary to design an undercut structure in the manufacturing process of the inner support, the pulp tray inner support structure according to the present invention can be manufactured by using a conventional manufacturing process, namely pulp molding, so as to reduce the complexity of a manufacturing device and process and overcome aforementioned manufacturing restrictions on addition of an undercut structure to a packaging structure.

The following description provided with reference to the accompanying drawings is intended to provide non-restrictive examples of the present invention. It should be understood that other embodiments are also contemplated, including embodiments having additional, fewer, or alternative features and different combinations of the features shown and/or described.

In the following description, the inner support structure described is a packaging structure for holding a consumer product (such as a grooming product (a razor, a shaver, an epilator, and the like). The consumer product may generally include, but is not limited to, a grooming product, a cosmetic product, a hair care product, or a fragile product. However, it can be envisioned that the inner support structure may be configured to be used in various applications to securely hold the consumer product and avoid damage during shipment and to provide a good presentation to a consumer when the consumer views the product.

FIG. 2 shows a reconfigurable inner support structure 10 for holding an article, wherein the inner support structure (10) is configured to fit or be nested with an outer packaging. The inner support structure 10 includes at least two parts, specifically a first part 12 and a second part 14. The first part 12 and the second part 14 have positions or angles transformable relative to each other. The inner support structure 10 can be reconfigured to be in a use configuration 3B from the manufacturing configuration 3A (see FIG. 3 ). The inner support structure is reconfigurable between the manufacturing configuration 3A and the use configuration 3B of the inner support structure 10 by transformation of the relative position or angle between the first part 12 and the second part 14 included in the inner support structure. In the manufacturing configuration 3A, the inner support structure is free of an undercut structure, and is therefore free of a negative draft angle. In the use configuration 3B, the inner support structure includes an undercut structure for securing an article and preventing the held article from being removed freely from the inner support structure. As shown in FIG. 2 , the inner support structure 10 is in a manufacturing configuration 3A for use in manufacturing. In the manufacturing configuration 3A, the inner support structure 10 may comprise a processing plane 100 surrounding the first and second parts 12, 14 and has not been separated from a periphery 11 by means of die cutting. However, the inner support structure 10 may also not include the processing plane 100 in the manufacturing configuration 3A.

A straight pressure marking line (not shown) is provided between the first and second parts 12, 14 of the inner support structure 10 in the manufacturing configuration 3A. The pressure marking line serves as an axis L for reconfiguration of the inner support structure 10 in a next step to transform from the manufacturing configuration 3A to a use configuration 3B as described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 3 .

Referring to FIG. 3 , in a use configuration, the inner support structure 10 is free of the processing plane 100 as the processing plane 100 is separated from a periphery of the inner support structure 10 by means of die cutting. The inner support structure 10 may be folded inwards along the axis L for reconfiguration of the inner support structure 10. Specifically, the inner support structure 10 may be transformed from the manufacturing configuration to the use configuration 3B for holding an articleio. The inner support structure 10 comprises one or more protrusions configured to, upon rotation and folding, define a protruding undercut structure y capable of preventing the product from being removed freely from the inner support structure in the use configuration 3B, and also forms a negative draft angle feature in the manufacturing configuration 3A. While the inner support structure 10 is in the use configuration 3B, the first and second parts 12, 14 are adjacent to each other to define a new presentation plane 200 on an upper surface of the inner support structure 10.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of an inner support structure 40 according to the present invention in a manufacturing configuration 3A in which the inner support structure 40 is free of an undercut (free of a negative draft angle). The inner support structure 40 comprises a first part 42 and a second part 44 defining at least two parts 42, 44, and an axis L extending between the at least two parts 42, 44. The inner support structure 40 in the manufacturing configuration 3A is free of an undercut structure for preventing the product from being removed freely in an article removing direction Y which extends from the axis L to a top end P of each of the at least two parts 42, 44.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the inner support structure 40 of FIG. 4 in a use configuration 3B. The first part 42 and the second part 44 are folded inwards and rotated about the axis L so as to be adjacent and in contact at the base of each of the first and second parts 42, 44 other along the axis L. As a result of the first and second parts 42 and 44 being folded inwards and rotated, the inner support structure 40 is reconfigured to comprise an inner support structure wall defining a cavity for receiving an article. Recessed undercuts 46, 48 are formed on the inner support structure wall so as to prevent the article when placed in the cavity from being removed freely in the article removing direction Y in the use configuration 3B.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the inner support structure 40 of FIG. 5 with an article 60. The recessed undercuts 46, 48 are engageable with at least a portion of the article 60 to prevent the article 60 from being removed freely from the inner support structure 40.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a cross-sectional front view of an inner support structure 70 comprising two or more parts according to the present invention in a manufacturing configuration 3A. The inner support structure 70 is substantially similar to the inner support structure 40 of FIG. 4 and differs in that the inner support structure 70 comprises a first part 72, a second part 74 and a third part 16. The third part 16 may be stationary and have a fixed position and/or angle relative to the first part 72 and the second part 74 in a manufacturing configuration 3A and a use configuration 3B. In addition, the inner support structure 70 includes two folding axes L so that the first part 72 and the second part 74 can be folded inwards towards the third part 16. Similar to FIG. 4 , the inner support structure 70 of FIG. 7 comprises an article removing direction Y and is free of an under cut.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the inner support structure 70 in a use configuration 3B. The first part 72 and the second part 44 are folded inwards and rotated about the axis L so as to be adjacent and in contact with the third part 16 along the respective axis L. As a result, the inner support structure 70 is reconfigured to comprise an inner support structure wall defining a cavity for receiving an article. Recessed undercuts 76, 78 are formed on the inner support structure wall so as to prevent the article upon being received in the cavity from being removed freely in the article removing direction Y in the use configuration 3B.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the inner support structure 70 of FIG. 8 with an article 90. The recessed undercuts 76, 78 are engageable with at least a portion of the article 90 to prevent the article 90 from being removed freely from the inner support structure 70.

FIG. 10 is an exploded assembly view of a product package 1 according to the present invention. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the assembled product package 1 of FIG. 10 .

FIG. 10 show components of the product package 1 comprising the inner support structure of FIG. 3 and a product 2 disposed in the inner support structure 10. The inner support structure is transformed, by means of reconfiguration, to be in the use configuration 3B of FIG. 3 from the manufacturing configuration 3A of FIG. 2 . The inner support structure 10 comprises a presentation plane 200, and the product package 1 may be displayed independently on shelf. A technical effect is that the product package 1 has a single piece of packaging and this enables less use of packaging material.

However, the product package 1 may also be further assembled to an outer packaging box 13 so as to conceal a bottom structure 17 of the inner support together with the packaging box, thereby providing an aesthetic presentation of the product 2 to consumers and/or users. The product 2 may comprise an elongate shape, and may be for example consumer products such as skin care products including but not limited to irregular shaped bottle packaging design, personal care products including but not limited to razors, shavers, hair trimmers, epilators, or the like.

In the above description, the inner support structure uses a pulp mold material and a production process. However, it can be envisioned that these parts may be made of any material, and this depends on a manufacturing technique and a product to be accommodated in the packaging structure.

The inner support structure may be produced by means of a sheet forming process, and a finished inner support structure may be a sheet-based hollow housing structure. The inner support structure may be made of a material selected from the following materials: a paper material, a pulp mold material, a fiber mold material, a plastic resin mold material, and mixtures thereof. The pulp mold material may consist of the following materials: sugarcane pulp, bamboo pulp, wood pulp, and mixtures thereof.

Manufacturing Method

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an inner support structure for a molded pulp package. The method may be determined based on a material suitable for manufacturing an inner support structure for a package. The inner support structure may be made of a material selected from the group consisting of: a paper material, a pulp mold material, a fiber mold material, a plastic resin mold material, and mixtures thereof. The pulp mold material may be selected from the group consisting of: sugarcane pulp, bamboo pulp, wood pulp, and mixtures thereof.

In addition, the inner support structure may be produced by using a method for manufacturing a pulp paper molded packaging structure. The method may include the following steps:

-   -   (i) fiberizing a starting material of a paper-plastic mold, and         preparing pulp having a certain formulation proportion;     -   (ii) immersing the paper-plastic mold into the pulp;     -   (iii) absorbing water from the interior of the paper-plastic         mold to remove water from the pulp, wherein a fiber portion in         the pulp is left by the mold on a surface of the paper-plastic         mold to form a paper pulp layer;     -   (iv) transferring and assembling the paper pulp layer formed on         the surface of the mold into a stock mold having a shape         matching a contour of the paper-plastic mold; and     -   (v) pressing the stock mold to shape the paper pulp layer so as         to transfer the shape of the stock mold onto the paper pulp         layer, and removing water of the paper pulp layer from the paper         pulp layer by means of various drying processes.

It should be understood that the packaging structure may also be made of plastic by using a conventional plastic molding process.

The inner support structure may also be manufactured by a sheet forming process.

The inner support structure may be a sheet-based hollow housing structure. The dimensions and values disclosed herein should not be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. In contrast, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to indicate the value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding this value. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to indicate “about 40 mm.”

Every document cited herein, including any cross referenced or related patent or patent application and any patent application or patent to which the present application claims priority or beneficial effects thereof, is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded or otherwise limited. The citation of any document is not an admission that it is prior art with respect to any invention disclosed or claimed herein or an admission that it alone or in any combination with any other reference document or reference documents, provides, suggests, or discloses any such invention. In addition, when any meaning or definition of a term in the present invention conflicts with any meaning or definition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assigned to this term in the present invention shall govern.

Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would have been obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the claims appended herein all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A reconfigurable inner support structure for holding an article and capable of displaying the article, the inner support structure comprising at least two parts having positions or angles changeable relative to each other, wherein a reconfiguration of the inner support structure is being formed by a change in a relative position or angle between the at least two parts of the inner support structure, and the reconfiguration being a transformation between a manufacturing configuration and a use configuration, wherein the manufacturing configuration of the inner support structure is free of an undercut structure; wherein the use configuration of the inner support structure comprises an undercut structure for securing an article and preventing the article from being removed from the inner support structure.
 2. The inner support structure of claim 1, wherein the at least two parts of the inner support structure are connected together to form an integral part in the manufacturing configuration.
 3. The inner support structure of claim 1, wherein the at least two parts is foldable along an axis to change the relative position and the relative angle therebetween so as to transform between the manufacturing configuration and the use configuration.
 4. The inner support structure of claim 1, wherein the inner support structure comprises a processing plane surrounding the at least at two parts, wherein the processing plane is for die cutting and substrate separation in the manufacturing configuration.
 5. The inner support structure of claim 1, wherein the inner support structure comprises a display plane for displaying the article in the use configuration.
 6. The inner support structure of claim 1, wherein the inner support structure comprises two or more parts.
 7. The inner support structure of claim 1, wherein the inner support structure is manufactured by a sheet forming process.
 8. The inner support structure of claim 1, wherein inner support structure is a sheet-based hollow housing structure.
 9. The inner support structure of claim 1, wherein the inner support structure is made of a material selected from a group consisting of: a paper material, a pulp mold material, a fiber mold material, a plastic resin mold material, and mixtures thereof.
 10. The inner support structure of claim 1, wherein the pulp mold material is selected from a group consisting of: sugarcane pulp, bamboo pulp, wood pulp, and mixtures thereof. 